


Stockholm Syndrome

by satisfyingbliss



Category: Muse
Genre: Angst, Child Abuse, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-22
Updated: 2014-07-22
Packaged: 2018-02-09 23:13:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2001708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/satisfyingbliss/pseuds/satisfyingbliss
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When a son loves his father too much.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stockholm Syndrome

**Author's Note:**

> **Pairing:** Belldom  
>  **Rating:** 15  
>  **Warning:** Major character death, child abuse, language.  
>  **Feedback:** Highly appreciated. ^_^  
>  **Disclaimer:** I don't own Muse, Dom or Matt, this is only fiction and I am making no profit.  
>  **Author's note:** I wrote this about a month and a half ago as a school assignment. We had to write a short story that had to be a mystery so I wrote a fan fic... The one I handed in was a bit less gay and was without the swear words. Not beta-ed.

The black of the night is pierced by a pair of slender, pale white hands, pushing a blond boy to the edge of the tree house they were standing in. His feet slip on the damp wood and he falls over. Trying to grab anything to hold on to, he reaches in front of himself, his fingers only skinning the red shirt over the chest of the man in front of him. His instincts make his hands fly around in case there is a way of surviving. But he can't save himself anymore.  
The only thing he sees, as he falls, is a pair of electric blue eyes, staring at him with a hint of regret, his name a whisper on the blonds’ lips.

"Matt."

 

**One month earlier**

A loud noise startles Dom and he wakes up. The radio on his night stand is turned on, a failed attempt to completely wake the blond. Dom groans and pushes a button on the radio, making the music stop. Yesterday it seemed a good idea to try and wake himself up like that but he wasn't much of a morning person. Well, maybe after he snoozed for half an hour or so.

There is no school; there are no obligations, since it is the summer break. Finally. The only thing Dom actually needs to do is… nothing.  
He shifts to his side and closes his eyes, sleep taking over him again.

 

Loud music starts blaring through the speakers of his desktop computer, Queen's ‘Don't Stop Me Now’, a song which usually strikes Dom's fancy but this is not one of the cases. It wakes him up. Startled and confused, Dom tries to get out of his scrambled sheet, managing to fall of the bed and hit the floor, his head being the first victim. Laughter and banging of a fist on his desk echo through the room.

“I. Hate. You.” Dom mumbles through the sheet closed around him.

“You need to see yourself.” The person on the other side of the room laughs.

Dom gets up, only his eyes and nose visible over the edge of his bed. A dark haired boy, smaller than himself, with a bit of a crooked nose but prominent cheek bones and thin lips, sits in his desk chair, a stupid grin on his face and an even stupider spark in his eyes.

“How many times have I told you not to sneak in through the window?” Dom said angrily.

“About forty-three quintillion, two hundred fifty-two quadrillion, three trillion, two hundred seventy-four billion, four hundred eighty-nine million, eight hundred fifty-six thousand.” The boy smirks and waves his hand around like it was nothing to say.

“Matt... now, you just made that up.” Dom gets up and throws the sheet on his bed.

“Actually, it is a real thing.” The boy says as he gets up and walks across the room to fiddle with some stuff.

Dom shoots him a glance, his lips turned down in an annoyed expression. He wasn’t a morning person at all.

 

~~~

 

“What do you want to do?” the smaller boy asks as he gently swings himself on the swing.

“I don’t know.” Dom looks around, like he’ll see something that will give him an idea.

“C’mon, I’m bored.” He swings harder, leaping from the ground.

“It's only the second day. You surely can't be that bored already?”

Dom looks around the deserted playground they were on. It was one of those places that no one went to. He liked that. There was a park with a forest nearby which they used to visit when they were younger. In fact, they had an awesome tree house built in the middle of it, on one of the oldest and highest trees. Then he remembers.

“Knights of Cydonia.” Dom mumbles to himself.

“What?” Matt turns and looks at him.

“Knights. Of. Cydonia.” he emphasises every word, a grin appearing on his face.

“Oh. OH.”

They smirk mischievously at each other, the fond memories coming back to them. Without a single word needed to be said, they both get up and walk towards the forest.

 

The air in the forest is crisp and a bit chilly but they don’t mind. When they finally reach the tree house, Dom starts to climb the improvised ladder of old wooden boards nailed to the tree trunk.

“C’mon.” he says from the base of the house.

“You sure it won’t break down?” the other boy asks innocently, scratching his shoulder a bit nervously.

“If I didn’t know you, I’d say you’re scared.” Dom grins imperiously, leaning over the window of the house.

The smaller boy sighs but gives in and starts to climb. There isn’t a lot of stuff on the small dusty spaces that used to keep toys. Dom opens a small box that was pushed under a low built shelf God knows how long ago. He blows on the top of it to remove the dust. They both start to cough and wave their hands in front of their faces to get rid of the cloud that formed in front of their faces. It surely has been a long time. Dom opens the box, smiling like the Cheshire cat at its content.

“What?” Matt asks, leaning over to see what is in the box.

Dom takes out two pairs of goggles. One with a black leather strap and silver metal rings on the eyepieces and the other, more or less the same, just with more silver on it. Dom hands the first pair to Matt and takes the other to put it around his head. With the goggles around their heads and identical grins on their faces they start to recite.

“The galaxy’s most wanted space cowboys.” Dom starts.

“Return to fight for survival.” Matt continues.

“For Cydonia!” They yell at same time.

“…” the two boys start to laugh hysterically.

At that moment a phone starts to buzz. Dom looks around his pockets but it is not his. The other boy lowers his goggles and leaves them to hang around his neck. He looks at the screen and suddenly all the joy in his eyes is gone. Just like that.

“I- I’ve got to go.” He puts the phone back into the pocket and takes the goggles off, putting them on the small shelf.

“Why? We just got here.” Dom protests.

“My dad is coming home from work. I really need to go.” Matt mumbles, “Can you help me down? My arm hurts when I stretch it.”

Dom smiles a faded smile and nods to his friend. He feels sorry for the guy. It’s like he is paper thin. Always with bruises and marks on his body. Clumsy as hell, also, or that’s what he tells everyone.

 

Dom walks Matt to his house. They stop at the front door as the smaller one tries to find his keys.

“So…” Dom attempts to say something but he’s not even sure himself what.

“So…” the other smiles.

Dom takes his friend in a tight hug, wrapping his hands around the boy’s body completely while Matt snuggles his face into the crook of Dom’s neck, inhaling the sweet smell of the blond. Dom entangles his hand in Matt’s brown hair, pushing the boy’s body even closer and kisses Matt’s head once before letting go of the smaller boy. Matt’s hands linger at the small of Dom’s back for a moment longer then they should but here is no way the blond will mind.

“See you tomorrow?” Dom asks, slowly walking backwards down the lane of the house.

“I’ll call you.” The brunette smiles and enters the house.

 

~~~

 

It’s been over a week and Dom still hasn’t got the call from Matt. It was probably his dad again. That man got on Dom’s nerves. If he was home, Dom could never go and visit Matt or the other way around. Matt had to do his homework then house chores and be in bed at nine o’clock. He is sixteen, for God’s sake.

Dom sighs and rubs his forehead with the tips of his fingers. He decides to go and see Matt, no matter if his father is there or not. He goes out, down a few blocks, and reaches Matt’s house in no time.

Dom rings the bell and waits. Soon enough, Matt’s mother opens the door.

“Oh. Hi, Dom.” She greets him.

“Hello. Is Matt home?” Dom peeks through the open door.

“He’s in his room. Come in.” she steps aside while he enters and closes the door.

 

Dom runs up the stair and down the corridor that leads to Matt’s room. He knock on the door and without waiting for a response, he opens it and peers through. There is no light in the room, the curtains pushed over the windows.

“Matt?” he whispers.

“Go away. I’m not feeling well.” Matt mumbles with a hoarse voice.

Dom doesn’t listen. He goes in and shuts the door after himself. He turns to where he knows is a small table lamp and flicks the switch on. Matt is on his bed, blinking rapidly to adjust to the light. 

His right eye is red and a large dark circle is around it.

“My God.” Dom whispers to himself and approaches the bed.

“I told you to go away.” Matt protests and turns to his side so Dom can’t see him.

“What the hell happened to you?” Dom asks with concern in his voice.

“I fell down the stairs.”

“What? Matt… Please, don’t lie to me.” He sits on the bed, next to the fragile brunette.

“Go home, Dom.” Matt’s voice sounds awful.

“Tell me what happened. Or don’t. Doesn’t matter, I know either way.”

Matt takes the sheet on top of him and pulls it over his head, hiding from his friend.

“Matt, you need to tell someone. Or I will. I swear to God, I can’t let him do this to you anymore.”

Dom takes the cover and pulls it down, revealing the smaller boy’s face and torso. Dom takes his hand and turns him over to look at him more clearly. His eye looks awful, there is a small bruise on his lips and a few bruises over his chest and arms.

“Your mother surely knows about this. Why doesn’t she do something?”

“No!” he sits bolt upright, making a grimace of pain, “I mean… He’s my father.”

“Look at what he did to you! Are you insane?”

Matt doesn’t respond. He turns his head to the side, clearly dodging Dom’s gaze.

“This isn’t the first time. He’s been doing this for years. Matt… Please.” Dom sighs at the silent response Matt gives him.

He isn’t even thinking of saying something to anyone, but Dom is. This is the worst he’s got so far. Usually, Matt only has a few small bruises, maybe a cut lip or so, but never this much. Dom leans a bit and strokes his hair gently before pressing his lips to Matt’s own for a brief moment.

“I’m sorry.” he whispers half heartedly against his cheek, stroking it with his thumb, “Be well soon.”

 

~~~

 

It’s been another week since Matt and Dom talked. He was probably recovering from… He didn’t even dare to think of what might have happened in the past week. In a way, he was somehow sure Matt was alright. He just knew it.

His phone starts to ring and he answers.

“Hello?”

“Dom.” A sad and broken voice whispers on the other side of the line, a little sob breaking out after the vowel.

“Matt? Matt! Are you ok? What happened?” He could recognise that voice anywhere.

“My- my dad… he’s dead, Dom.” He sobs.

“What? Really?” the blond stares through the window of his room with a blank expression on his face, a glass look in his eyes, “I mean… I’m sorry.”

“The police said he was robbed.” The sobs stop.

“Let me guess. He probably went to the pub and started to walk back in God knows what o’clock and someone robbed him because he was a drunk and easy target.”

“Shut up.”

“I’m right, aren’t I?”

Silence breaks between the boys and the line goes dead for a moment.

“Dom?”

“Yeah?”

“I need to go down to the police station for the questioning. Could you maybe go with me?”

“Fine.”

“Thanks. Be here at five.”

“Ok.”

“Ok. Well, see ya.”

Matt hangs up and a monotonous beep is heard from the phone.

 

~~~

 

After the questioning, Dom took Matt out for ice cream. It should have made him feel and it did. For a few minutes Matt was giggling lightly and smiling until he ate his ice cream. The dread of his life picked up with him once more.

“What’s in the box?” Dom asks, pointing at the box next to Matt.

“My father’s belongings at the time of murder.” He says with no emotion at all, as if he read it from a label.

“What do you need that for?” Dom asks curiously, arching an eyebrow at him.

“Dunno. ‘m tired. Gonna go home now. See ya tomorrow.” Matt sounds as one of those secretary machines.

He gets up, takes the box, and walks out the door of the pastry and into the hot summer night air, leaving Dom baffled.

 

~~~

 

The blond boy sits at the kitchen table, chewing on a piece of a pancake. He looks through the open window, staring at something in the distance. The afternoon is gloomy and a bit breezy because of the rain that fell yesterday, the sun almost gone. Dom blinks and returns his attention to his dinner. His phone starts to buzz, taking him out from his own, better, world, and into the real one. Dom opens the message and reads its content. ‘In half an hour at the Cydonia base.’ He gets up from the table, food completely forgotten, and walks to his room to get dressed. He slips in a pair of grey trousers, a black shirt with some kind of white graphic on it, and his favourite black Converse. His pockets stuffed with a phone and a pair of keys, Dom leaves the house and walks to the forest.

 

It starts to get dark, night almost taking over. A few meters away from the tree house Dom can see a figure sitting on the floor of the base, legs hanging loosely over the edge. He waves his hand but the person doesn’t respond.

“Hey, Matt.” Dom smiles faintly, sitting down next to the boy.

“… Hi.” Matt struggles to give him an answer.

“You alright?”

Matt doesn’t answer. Instead, he pulls his hand up and shows Dom a bracelet he is holding. An identical bracelet is hanging on Matt’s bony wrist.

“You found it!” Dom smiles, taking the bracelet and putting it on his hand.

“It was in the box.” Matt’s face is completely blank.

“I have no idea how the hell it got there.” Dom shrugs and looks at his wrist once more, spinning the bracelet around it.

“I think we both know how it got there.”

Dom narrows his eyes at Matt, trying to comprehend what he was implying. Then it hits him. Literally. A loud slap resonates over the small clearing of the forest. Dom brings a hand to his burning cheek and yelps.

“What the hell?! Are you insane?”

“No, but you are.” 

“What?! No, Matt! I’d never do that. I mean, yeah, the guy was a jerk and I hated him, but… How could you even think that?”

“Why?” Matt asks angrily, tears gathering at the corners of his eyes.

“Why what? Why I think he’s a fucking jerk? Well, for starters, for beating the hell out of you since you were seven. He’s a drunk, a bastard, a fool…”

“Shut up!”

“A fool for not realising how good his son is. Some father he was.”

“Stop saying that! You have no right…”

“I have every right. What do you think how it feels when you see your best mate all beaten up and shattered to pieces by his drunken fool of a father and you can’t do anything to stop it?” Dom angrily stands up, Matt following his movement.

“It wasn’t like that.”

“Yeah. Sure. You keep telling yourself that.”

“He loved me.” Matt lets out a small sob.

“He definitely had a great way of showing it.”

“Shut up. Shut up! You killed him!” Matt pushes Dom with every word he says.

The somewhat cold and moist forest air soothes the blonds’ burning cheek and aching chest. Matt grits his teeth, anger filling the blueness of his eyes.  
“I. Hate. You.”

 

The black of the night is pierced by a pair of slender, pale white hands, pushing the blond boy to the edge of the tree house they were standing in. His feet slip on the damp wood and he falls over. Trying to grab anything to hold on to, he reaches in front of himself, his fingers only skinning the red shirt over the chest of the brunette in front of him. His instincts make his hands fly around in case there is a way of surviving. But he can't save himself anymore.  
The only thing he sees, as he falls, is a pair of electric blue eyes, staring at him with a hint of regret, his name a whisper on the blonds’ lips.

"Matt."


End file.
